himself by driving furiously over all the hard frozen ruts he could
quickly select, determined not to stop till he was obliged to.

"Goodness!" exclaimed Mr. King within, holding to the strap at the side,
as well as to the leather band of the swinging seat in front. "What an
abominable road!"

"The road is well enough," said Jasper, who couldn't bear to have a word
uttered against Badgertown, "it's the fellow's driving that makes it
rough. Here, can't you be a little more careful to keep the road?" he
called, thrusting his head out of the window. But he only narrowly
escaped losing his brown traveling cap for his pains, as the stage gave
a worse lurch than before, to introduce a series of creakings and
joltings hitherto unparalleled.

"I cannot endure this much longer," said old Mr. King, growing white
around the mouth, and wishing he had strength for one-half the
exclamations he felt inwardly capable of. Outside, honest Mr. Tisbett
was taking solid comfort in the reflection that he was teaching a rich
city man that he could not approach with anything less than respect a
citizen of Badgertown.

"Ain't I as good as he?" cried Mr. Tisbett to himself, with an extra cut
to the off horse, as he spied a sharp ragged edge of ice along the cart
track in front of him. "Now that's good; that'll shake him," he added
cheerfully. "Land! but I hain't been spoke to so since I was sassed at
school by Jim Bently, and then I licked him enough to pay twice over.
G'lang there--easy!"

The first thing he knew, one of the glass windows was shivered to